United (1697 pictures & videos)

7/10

Bartosz

United States (MVC) to United States (SFO), 28 Mar 2004

Business Class

Japanese Obento Appetizer: spicy vinegared horse mackerel, shrimp with lily root, shiitake mushroom stuffed egg, simmered sweet potato and udon noodles. Main course: silver cod in soy mirin sauce with shimeji mushrooms, vegeta (Menu Card)

green tea and United’s in-house junmai sake

I have had Northwest’s Japanese meal in business class many times and this one was a bit nicer as there were two servings (appetizer and main meal served in separate dishes) – on NW you used to get just one box with a lot of food on it. Now I hear NW has a new Japanese meal menu but haven’t had it yet. Other than this, I was shocked at how tacky and cheap the paper menu was (one sheet folded in half – drink menu printed on the back sleeve!). UA has discontinued all soft drinks other than orange juice, Pepsi and tomato juice – so, no cranberry juice for example. The sake was not so great; NW has ginjo sake which is of higher quality and cleaner taste. Many small plates and dishes were plastic, which was also tacky. However, I was impressed that the tray liner and tea cup had a cherry blossom design – the flight attendants said UA changes their Japanese meal setup every season, which shows a lot of attention is being paid here (clearly, the Tokyo UA kitchen must have a nice budget!). The service was so-so, one flight attendant was very nice and the other very rude. The Japanese F/As weren’t very sophisticated (haphazard, rushed announcements, not especially friendly) as compared with NW’s Japanese IFSR’s who are hand-picked. The food was of good quality ingredients and aesthetically arranged. The cod was a bit greasy but otherwise good.

Date added: 2008-05-21   //   Flight: 10:00   //   Aircraft: 744 C or leisure trip: business